No democratic system at all, says Taliban; Council may rule Afghanistan

Afghanistan may be governed by a ruling council now that the Taliban has taken over, a senior member of the group told Reuters.

Meanwhile Taliban's s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, would likely remain in overall charge.

According to a report in Reuters, Taliban would also reach out to former pilots and soldiers from the Afghan armed forces to join its ranks, Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the group's decision-making, said in an interview.

The power structure that Hashimi outlined would bear similarities to how Afghanistan was run the last time the Taliban were in power from 1996 to 2001.

Akhundzada would likely play a role above the head of the council, who would be akin to the country's president, Hashimi added.

"Maybe his (Akhundzada's) deputy will play the role of 'president'," Hashimi said, speaking in English.

According to the report in Reuters, Haibatullah Akhundzada has three deputies, Mawlavi Yaqoob, son of Mullah Omar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful terrorist Haqqani network, and Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban's political office in Doha and is one of the founding members of the group.

"There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country," he said. "We will not discuss what type of political system should we apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. It is sharia law and that is it."

Hashimi said he would be joining a meeting of the Taliban leadership that would discuss issues of governance later this week.